Combination scoop and strainer



1962 I w. w. JURY 3,057,317

COMBINATION SCOOP AND STRAINER Filed Dec. 3, 1959 FIG. .I y 5/ II VVENTOR. WEBSTER W. JURY JM 5. Bar:

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,057,317 COMBINATION SCOOP AND STRAINER Webster W. Jury, Pines Lake, N.J., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Engelhard Industries, Inc., Newark, N.J., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 856,954 2 Claims. (Cl. 114-185) This invention relates to pipe fitting terminal assemblies and, more particularly, is concerned with an assembly for conveying water into a moving ship and subsequently outside the ship, for instance to provide engine cooling water. Such devices may be termed scoops and suitably include strainer elements to avoid conveying solid bodies above a predetermined size into the conduit which might impair or block the fluid system involved.

It has been recognized as a fact that, generally speaking, it is advantageous to reduce to a minimum the work to be done on the hull of a ship. Evidently, the provision of an opening through the hull produces a danger point inasmuch as the opening must be safely sealed. Since seals may always be subject to deterioration, the avoidance of unnecessary openings through the hull is highly advisable.

Assemblies used heretofore as scoops for conveying water from outside into the ship were secured to the hull by means of bolts traversing the hull or they were attached to the hull by means of studs welded to the hull. The welding of studs to the hull is undesirable in view of the weakening of the hull at these points and the special equipment which is required.

Accordingly, there is a great need for a scoop which requires no additional opening through the hull nor any other costly or time consuming operation to be per formed on the hull upon dry docking the ship. Of course, one opening for conveying the water inside and one for passing it again outside the ship must necessarily be provided.

The present invention, therefore, is concerned with a pipe fitting assembly adapted to form the inlet or the outlet for water conveying systems, with special emphasis on the use for small ships such as pleasure craft. While especially designed for this purpose under avoidance of any preparation of the hull with the exception of one bore per inlet or outlet, the assembly herein described may be found useful in many other systems in which a moving fluid is to be conveyed from one zone into another. This may be the case in various industrial plants using moving fluids. In numerous applications of this type it is desirable to reverse the direction offlow and this invention is therefore concerned, additionally, with a scoop-strainer combination assembly which can be readily converted from an inlet into an outlet, and vice versa.

As one of its objects the present invention contemplates the elimination of the necessity for additional openings or welded studs from pipe fitting terminal assemblies, particularly for sealing through the hull of a ship.

Other objects include the provision of an assembly which can be used as the inlet or as the outlet, when permanently installed, and which is readily converted from an inlet into an outlet, and vice versa, if desired. As a further object, the invention facilitates the elimination of foreign bodies by means of a removably mounted strainer enclosure which also forms an integral part of the liquid scoop structure.

In accordance with one illustrative embodiment, an assembly for the purpose described above includes a flanged threaded pipe fitting passing through the separating wall which, in the following, is assumed to be the hull of a ship. A circular base plate having an eccentrically arranged bore through which the pipe fitting is passed, also, is frictionally maintained flush against the Patented Oct. 9, 1962 outside of the hull between the end flange and the hull by means of a nut cooperating with the threaded end portion of the pipe fitting protruding inside the hull. A perforated enclosure, suitably provided with a number of openings to form a strainer and having the shape of a shallow cap is removably mounted on the base plate by means of a circular ridge along its inside rim which ridge resiliently engages the peripheral groove in the base plate. The perforations in the cap are arranged in such a manner that they are in an off-set position With respect to the opening of the pipe fitting leading into the enclosure.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the pipe fitting is the only element Which secures the base plate in its position and therefore constitutes a swivel axis for the base plate. As a result of this arrangement, the enclosure assembly, consisting of the base plate and the cap, can be mounted in any desired angular position of the base plate with respect to the axis of the pipe fitting. Since, additionally, this assembly is maintained in its position only by means of pressure exerted on the plate by the flange of the pipe fitting upon tightening the nut, the assembly may be used as an inlet or outlet scoop, or it may be swiveled around for to switch from use as an inlet to an outlet, and vice versa. In this regard it should be noted that the circular ridge of the cap engages the peripheral groove in the base plate in any position of one with respect to the other. Therefore, for a given direction of flow, the base plate is secured to the hull according to whether the scoop is intended to perform as an inlet or as an outlet. Then, when assembling the cap with the base plate to complete the enclosure, care must be taken that the perforations in the cap, which generally are arranged in one half of the spherical segment formed by the cap, are off-set with respect to the axis of the pipe fitting.

In its broader aspect, the present invention provides an end fitting assembly for pipes, adapted to be connected to the conduit system inside a ship, which includes a threaded pipe terminal or connector with a terminal flange and a perforated enclosure maintained flush against the hull between the hull and the flange. In accordance with one of the features of this assembly, the enclosure consists essentially of a base plate and a stream lined, rounded cap, suitably in the shape of a spherical segment.

Additional features include an eccentric arrangement of the enclosure with respect to the pipe fitting, and a groove cooperating with the cap to maintain it removably in its position. In accordance with a further feature, openings in the cap may be arranged in about one half of the entire circular area, so that itis always possible to adjust the cap in a manner to obtain a combined scoopstrainer action.

It is to be understood that the foregoing objects and features of the invention are merely exemplary, and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and from the drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a cross sectional view through one embodiment of a scoop-strainer assembly according to the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the assembly of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a schematic side view of a ships hull illustrating two units mounted on the hull to form the inlet and the outlet for the engine cooling system.

Throughout the figures, the same elements are designated by the same reference numerals. Referring to FIGURE 1, an assembly mounted on the hull 10 is shown in cross section and includes a pipe terminal 12 and an enclosure generally designated by the numeral 14. In FIGURE 1 the lower surface of the hull 10 is as- 3 sumed to be the outer side in contact with the water. The pipe terminal or fitting 12 is provided with an end flange 16 and a thread 18 for engagement with a nut 20.

The enclosure 14-, which performs as a combined scoop and strainer, consists essentially of two components, a base plate 22 and a cap 24 having the shape of a spherical segment to reduce the resistance to movement in water by a streamlined contour. A circular ridge 26 is formed alongside the inner edge of the cap 24 which ridge resiliently engages a peripheral groove 28 provided in the outer edge of the base plate 22. Since the cap is generally formed from metal, its inherent resiliency results in a firm grip with the base plate groove. The resultant removable assembly forms the enclosure 14 and encompasses the pipe fitting 12. Assembling the cap 24 with the base plate 22' may be facilitated by the provision of a bevelled edge 30 along the periphery of the base plate. A plurality of openings shown in the shape of parallel slots 32 are formed through one half of the spherical segment, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The base plate 22 is provided with a bore through which the flanged end of the pipe fitting extends, whereby the base plate is maintained against the hull upon tightening the nut 20. In order to provide a maximum offset distance between the slots 32 and the axis of the pipe terminal 12, the bore in the base plate is arranged at an eccentric location of the plate. A resilient gasket 34 having a circular shape slightly exceeding the size of the cap 24 is preferably mounted between the enclosure 14 and the hull 10 to provide a water tight seal. It is to be noted that additional sealing components such as compressed packings may be used to increase the safety of the device. Since they do not form part of this invention and, furthermore, are known in the art, such elements are not shown in the drawing.

While the assembly so described is generally mounted in the hull 10 by tightening the nut 20, the nut may be replaced by a sea-cock. In this case, mounting the assembly must be effected from outside and, therefore, it has been found advantageous to provide projections 36 within the pipe fitting. Any suitable tool may then be used for mounting the base plate 22 and flanged connector 12 assembly from outside the ship and subsequently attaching the cap 24 to the base plate.

FIGURE 3 illustrates, in a schematic view, a ship having two assemblies of the type described mounted on the hull to provide a cooling system for the engine. For the sake of clarity, the scoop enclosures are drawn to an en larged scale. Assuming that the ship moves from the right to the left, the left hand scoop 38 performs as the inlet, since the strainer slots 32 are mounted ahead of the pipe fitting flange 16 so that pressure builds up in the enclosure 38. It will be apparent from the foregoing that this result is obtained by mounting at first the pipe fitting 12 with the base plate 22 in a position in which the major portion of the base plate is located toward the left side of the eccentrically positioned flange 16. Subsequently, the cap 24 is assembled with the base plate by applying pressure until the ridge 26 engages the groove 28. In an analogous manner, but with reversed directions, the out let scoop 40 is mounted as shown in FIGURE 3. It be apparent that an identical assembly is used in both instances. Connecting pipes 42, 44 and the block 46 designating the ships" engine schematically illustrate the conduit system between the inlet and the outlet.

In cases of industrial installations or in any other instance where it is desired to reverse the direction of flow, this can easily be accomplished by loosening the nuts 20 of each assembly and swiveling each of the base plate-cap assemblies about The installations are shown at the front and rear of the craft in FIGURE 3; however, the installations may also be located on opposite sides of the craft, or adjacent one another on the same side.

It is to be understood that the above described atrangements are illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an assembly for use as a scoop to convey water through a bore in the hull into a ship or outwardly from the ship, a tubular pipe terminal, a circular disc having an eccentric bore, one end portion of said terminal extending through said bore, a shallow cap-shaped strainer having a convex outer surface and cooperating with said disc to form a streamlined enclosure encompassing said I terminal end portion, means for securing said pipe terminal through said bore in the hull of the ship with said disc being maintained flat against the outer hull surface and means for removably mounting the cap onto the disc.

2. An assembly comprising a threaded pipe fitting provided with a terminal flange and cooperating not for mounting through an opening in a ships hull to selectively convey water from outside into the ship or outwardly from inside the ship, an enclosure encompassing the flanged end of said pipe fitting, said enclosure comprising a base plate and a cap in the shape of a spherical segment covering one side of said base plate, said cap having a plurality of openings arranged substantially in one half of its spherical surface, a peripheral groove being provided in the edge of said base plate, a circular ridge arranged adjacent the inside rim of said cap, said ridge cooperating with said groove for removably maintaining said cap in selected angular position with respect to said base plate, the base plate having an eccentrically arranged bore, the flanged end of said pipe fitting passing through said bore, said nut engaging the inner end of said pipe fitting for frictionally maintaining the plate-cap assembly flush against the hull between the hull and said flange in any desired angular position of the base plate with respect to the pipe fitting, and a flat gasket mounted between said base plate and the hull.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,281,459 Scott-Paine Apr. 28, 1942 2,350,598 rFaville June 6, 1944 2,428,585 Rodgers --a Oct. 7, 1947 2,449,285 Ekstrom Sept. 14, 1948 2,462,450 Wilson Feb. 22, 1949 2,713,840 Stigall July 26, 1955 2,766,796 Tupper Oct. 16, 1956 2,866,431 Conover Dec. 30, 1958 2,914,012 Godfrey Nov. 24, 1959 sexism 

